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To promote bilingualism among young Singaporeans, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has set up a fund that he hopes will eventually reach over $100 million.
To be administered by the Ministry of Education, the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism will be used to spearhead initiatives that teach children their mother tongue and English, especially in their pre-school years.
'However difficult to learn the mother tongue, especially Chinese (together with) English, if children start early enough from Kindergarten 1 or even nursery, by primary six, they will be bilingual, with a strong foundation in the mother tongue for life,' he said.
Mr Lee will kick start the fund with a personal donation of $10 million and another $2 million from the sale of signed copies of a new book he launched on Monday. Property tycoon Philip Ng and hotelier Ong Beng Seng have pledged $5 million and $2 million respectively.
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